Hero's Fall
by TwiliRupee
Summary: Prequel to Hero of the Ocarina.  This is Link's story: how he spends seven years under Ganondorf's rule, hiding with Zelda; and how he fails in his mission to once more bring peace to Hyrule.


_Author's note: Here it is, by request (kinda), Link's story before my fanfic **Hero of the Ocarina.** Enjoy! (By the way, it makes more sense to read Hero of the Ocarina before reading this, that way, you won't end up confused and you'll be slightly less depressed with the ending.)_

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><p>Blue light filled the back of the Temple of Time. A boy, no older than ten, and his blue fairy seemed to melt out of the light. When the light died down, one could see that the boy was gripping a sword. But not just any sword: the Master Sword, jammed into the Pedestal of Time.<p>

The boy let go of the Master Sword, and took a few steps back, a slight grin on his face.

"That's weird," his fairy stated.

"What's weird, Navi?" the boy asked.

Navi did a complete turn, looking around the room they were in and out into the main part of the temple. "I...I thought she would send us back before it all happened. Not after we got the Spiritual Stones. Half our work is still here, Link."

Link looked back toward the main part of the temple as well. "Huh. Odd."

"Indeed." Navi, who had been planning to leave and return to the forest where she belonged, flew forward toward the main temple. Link followed her, peering out of the high windows at the sky, which he noticed was almost black from storm clouds.

"Something's not right here," he said, reaching up to make sure he still had a sword and shield on his back. The familiar grip of the Kokiri's Sword greeted his hand. He glanced up at Navi. "It's like that day when I pulled the Master Sword the first time."

"It is." Navi paused to fly down to her companion. "Let's go. Perhaps we can do something."

Link nodded and hurried out of the temple, only to be greeted by the sight of flames flying up from the direction of the castle. Link swore – something he had picked up during his time as an adult – and started running as fast as his ten-year-old legs could carry him. Navi flew behind him, her translucent wings beating so fast.

"Link!"

Link skid to a stop when he heard his name being called. A girl ran up to him.

"What happened, Zelda?" Link asked as a tall woman with gray short hair led a white horse over to them, a long dagger in her free hand. Navi, knowing Link would be safe with the imposing Sheikah nearby, hid in Link's hat.

"It's happened again. Ganondorf's back and he's taken over the castle again."

"Zelda, we must hurry," the woman holding the horse ordered. "He's going to find us soon."

"One second, Impa," the Princess replied. "Please, Link, come with us."

"Of course," Link replied as Impa sighed with impatience, keeping a constant eye out for the Gerudo man who would surely kill them all on sight.

"Now, Princess," Impa ordered. Zelda nodded and Impa helped the Princess of Hyrule up onto the tall white horse before offering a hand to Link. Once the boy was mounted, Impa jumped up behind the two ten-year-olds and kicked the horse into a canter, expertly steering the stallion through the panicking crowd and soldiers. "Lower the drawbridge!" the Sheikah shouted.

Her orders were followed right away, and the horse and his riders galloped out of the town. "Where are we going?" Link asked.

"Same place as last time," Impa replied. "The Sheikah Caverns."

Through the night, Impa rode hard, heading south and east. Finally, as dawn broke, they reached a strange, rocky area. Impa slowed the tired horse to a stop. The Sheikah dismounted and walked toward a bare rock face, studying the wall.

"So, the Sheikah Caverns, huh?" Link asked Zelda. "That's why you decided to disguised yourself as Sheik."

"Yup," Zelda replied. "Though this time around I won't disguise myself as a boy."

"That's a relief," Impa muttered. She finally settled on a place on the rock and placed her hand against it, muttering under her breath in the Sheikah language. There was a loud cracking noise, and a door big enough for the horse to pass through with riders on his back formed and slid away, revealing a tunnel. Another Sheikah, a man with short spiked hair, emerged. He took once glance at the two children on the horse and spoke in a accented voice. "To what do we, the People of Shadow, owe this visit from the Princess and her bodyguard. And who is the lad?"

Impa's reply was instant. "The boy is Link, Hero of Time. We are here for shelter. Ganondorf has taken the castle and the King is fallen."

"Why has the Hero not done anything?"

"He is too young to wield the Master Sword. It is better that he is here with us than out on his own."

The Sheikah guard nodded. "Come then." Impa took the reins of the horse and led it on into the cavern. The door shut behind them, and there was only glowing crystals for light.

"I hope I don't have to make a speech," Zelda whispered to Link, though she was fully aware that both Sheikah could hear her. "I really suck at it."

"Language, Zelda," Impa scolded.

"Sorry. Force of habit."

Impa glanced back at her and Link for a moment, studying them. Then she turned back and began to speak with the Sheikah guiding them through the tunnel. Zelda rolled her eyes.

Within the hour, they were settled in living quarters close to the Sheikah chieftain's. Link had a small room to himself, and Zelda's room was right next to his. Once settled in, Zelda came to visit him.

"Here," she said, holding out to Ocarina of Time. "You need it more than I do."

Link accepted the musical instrument. "I still remember all those songs," he said as Zelda sat down on the edge of his bed next to Navi, who was resting.

"Awesome. I won't have to teach you everything again. Just, don't make it rain in here: I don't think the Sheikah would appreciate it."

Link laughed. After a moment, his smile faded and he sighed. "I can't believe we have to go though it all again."

"I know. I though it would be over. I guess not."

Link nodded, then shuddered. "I have to go though the Shadow Temple again. Great."

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad, can it?"

"It is. That place was creepy as hell."

"LINK!" Navi reprimanded. "You're ten! Kids your age don't say things like that."

"I still feel like I'm seventeen," Link replied, attempting to talk in a deeper voice to match his voice from when he was older. The result just made him sound silly, and Zelda laughed.

"As annoying as it is having to do it all over again," Zelda said, "I'm glad I have you by my side this time around."

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><p>And so, once again, the same seven years passed. For Link, it was like the first time, since he had been asleep last time around. Zelda, however, knew every major detail of her life and one evening she told Link that she was to discover her first acne the next day in response to his questioning of why she was so grumpy.<p>

"You actually remember your first zit?" Link asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yes," Zelda pouted. But Link's laugh was contagious and soon she was laughing as well.

Finally, a few days after Link's seventeenth birthday, the Hero found himself lying on his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had a new tunic on – green like his first one – and a matching hat. Navi was resting on his forehead.

"Hey, Link."

Link looked toward the doorway and saw Zelda standing there. She had abandoned all the dressiness of a Princess, save for one simple dress that fit her, which she saved only for special occasions. Instead, she wore the leggings and tight shirt of the Sheikah. She had a looser shirt over her long-sleeved one. Her long golden hair was braided and tossed in front of one shoulder. She held a bandana in one hand.

"Why, hello, Sheik," Link commented, a grin on his face. "How can I help you?"

"Impa says it's time," Zelda replied. "We're getting you to the Master Sword."

Link stood and sighed. "Well, let's go, then." And he and Navi followed Zelda out of the room.

And so, Link's journey began once more. After retrieving the Master Sword, he went straight to work. He traversed through the temples with ease, re-awakening the sages as he had done before. Zelda, now disguised as Sheik, was with him every step of the way. She saw him emerge from each temple with varying degrees of wounds. And when he came out of the Shadow Temple, he looked horribly shaken. "Scariest place in Hyrule," he muttered. Zelda only laughed.

As Link came out of the final temple, the Spirit Temple, he heard Zelda shout his name. Looking around he saw Zelda being held by two stalfos. The bandana covering her face had slipped around her neck. But it was not this sight that infuriated Link. It was the sight of Ganondorf, smirking next to his monsters. "You want her back, Hero?" he demanded. "Come and get her!"

In a swirl of black magic, Zelda, Ganondorf and the two stalfos were warped away.

Link dropped to his knees in despair and anger. How could this have happened again? How could he have let it happen again?

He had thought Zelda safe, as long as she stayed disguised. But perhaps Ganondorf figured it out.

"Let's go, Navi," Link said, getting back to his feet and pulling out the Ocarina of Time. With a quick tune, he and his fairy disappeared in a flash of golden sparkles.

Like with the temples, he raced through Ganon's Keep. The first battle against Ganondorf went smoothly and quickly, as Link already knew how to defeat him. Then the Keep began to collapse. Link and Zelda managed to escape just before the fortress fell.

"Boy that never gets old, huh, Zel?" Link asked, trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, don't joke about it like that," Zelda replied in an equally breathless voice. She looked toward the mass of rubble in the center of the floating rock.

"Do you think he'll turn into Ganon?"

"Undoubtedly."

And just as Zelda spoke, the same noise of falling stone echoed through the quietness. Zelda held her breath.

"Great," Link muttered, pulling the Master Sword from its sheath.

"Be careful, Link," Zelda said, pulling him close.

Link kissed her quickly. "I will," he said softly. For a moment, they stared into each other's eyes. Then, he slipped from her arms and went to face the monster. His promise, though sincere, was never kept.

The Hero of Time was mortally wounded. Stabbed by the very man he was trying to expel from Hyrule.

And his love, the Princess of Hyrule, watched him struggle to hold onto life in the last sanctuary Hyrule could provide for them, deep in the Lost Woods. The Princess and the Sage of Forest were by his side as he made his final request. "Zelda," the Hero said weakly as the Princess took his hand. "Could you play the Ocarina for me? You, too, Saria."

"Which song?" Zelda asked. She and Saria readied their Ocarinas.

"Your lullaby."

Zelda nodded. Fighting back tears, she began to play with one hand while her other hand held Link's. The Forest Sage joined in with a charming melody.

Link closed his eyes with a peaceful smile on his face. Then his hand, which had been grasping Zelda's, slipped from her hold.

"Link!" Zelda called. But she knew it was futile.

The Hero of Time was gone.

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><p>That evening, Zelda, with tears in her eyes, finished the final carving for the Hero's tombstone. She couldn't bare to look at the freshly dug grave any longer. She turned away.<p>

"Where will you go now?" Saria asked.

"I heard of a town. Dresdem. It's out of the way. No one will suspect a Princess among farmers."

"I'll come with you," Navi said.

Zelda nodded. She wrapped the Master Sword in a large piece of cloth and place the Ocarina of Time in her belt bag. With Saria in the lead, they left the Lost Woods.

Three years later, Zelda, disguised completely as Sheik, a solitary Sheikah woman living on the outskirts of Dresdem, heard the sounds of an Ocarina during market day. Drawn by the music, she saw a brown-haired boy playing. When he stopped, Zelda walked up to him.

"Your playing is amazing," she said.

"Thanks," the boy replied. His green eyes sparkled in the sun. "I'm Rinku by the way."


End file.
